Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

Hi everyone,

Have been looking at a job spec and in the terms and conditions it says that employees will be entitled to 17.5% leave loading.

Never heared of this, can anyone explain what it means?!

Thanks

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

A bonus paid on top of your regular pay, equivalent to 17.5% of your salary.

:)

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

Take a look in the Wiki, I explained it in there a while back :)

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Employment_in_Australia

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

Leave loading was first introduced after unions complained that since a significant percentage of income came from overtime that when on holiday employees suffered an effective 'drop' in pay.

The net effect of leave loading (for those who dont get overtime) is that you dont get paid as much for 48 weeks of the year so that you can get a boost for the other 4... Seems like madness to me and its increasingly rare - but lots of government jobs will have it!

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

Our dept pays it at Christmas instead of when we actually take the leave, which is a double edged sword really. I suppose its handy for Christmas, but I'd rather have it while I'm actually on leave!

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

Thanks guys, but still a bit confused. The job i am looking at isn't shift work and I would not be getting any extra from shift work or overtime, so can't see that I would actually earn any less from being on leave. How does that work then?


oops, sorry Dadagain, just re-read your post! Still confused though, the job is salaried and is part time so should just get the full-time equivalent rate pro-rata'd for part-time hours. How do they then pay less for 48weeks? It does indeed seem madness if explained that way.

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

.....for the time taken off. ie leave period. eg
1 day annual leave
your rate of pay = $100 a day

1 day @ 100 = 100
Plus (17.5% x $100)

= 117.5 for your day off.

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

You will get your normal pay for 48 weeks of the year when you are at work. For the four weeks that you are on holiday, you will get your normal pay plus an extra 17.5% on top.

Just be thankful you get it - hardly anyone does nowadays, except public servants. :)

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

Right, have just read the job details again. It says :

• Annual Leave - 4 weeks annual leave (cumulative) on full pay for 12 months continuous service. In addition 17.5% leave loading will apply to the total remuneration package.

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

Ok so lets say for the sake of argument your gross salary is $60k:

in *normal* world that means your gross weekly pay is: 60000/52 = $1153.85

In leave loading world however, its a bit different - you're still only going to get $60 a year - but need to get 17% more for 4 weeks of the year than for the other 48.

By my calculations that means you get
48 working weeks: $1138.95 (48x1138.95=54669.6)
04 holiday weeks: $1332.57 ( 4x1332.57= 5330.3)
=========================================
TOTAL ( 59999.9)

Still sounds stupid to me!

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

whats stupid about it? Its extra cash for your holiday!:rofl:

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

Extra cash for your holiday is fine - IF your holdiay expenses tend to be run up when your on holiday.

Personally by the time I go on holiday I've paid for the bulk of it AGES ago - so I need the money a few months before when the nasty bill from the airlines come to me! - I'd find it easier to pay that bill if my regular pay check is as large as possible.

If anything I'd like "anti-leave loading" so I can get slightly paid less when I'm on holiday and have the extra money for real-life!!!

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

Ah thats where we are different - my holiday IS my life, and I need the cash for my shopping back home :D The flight ticket gets paid for nearly a year ahead out of ordinary wages.

However, its not as common a perk as it was, and I am just grateful I get it at all :)

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

I agree with this sentiment - its just that I pay for it 52 weeks a year (actually its more like 104 weeks every 2 years :huh:) not just for the 4 weeks that I'm away!!!

Agreed Leave Loading is so rare that this is really just a theoretic discussion!

Re: Leave Loading - what is it?!
 

It could also be, especially reading "as advertised" the hypothetical 60,000 plus 17.5 pct extra on those 4 weeks.

Reason I say that is, most jobs, especially government ones, do not, repeat do not include their 9pct super contribution into the advertised annual salary. Hence 60,000 in those cases with super on top is around 65,200.

I'm sure my post office job, and my wifes government nursing job pays the 17.5 pct leave loading and the 9pct employer super contribution on top of the advertised annual salary.

If the advertised wording says Total Package, then the 17.5pct loading and 9pct are probably deducted from the total wage advertised, most likely with private companies. Whereas is the advertising just says Salary @ xxxxx amount then most likely the 17.5pct leaving loading and 9pct employer contribution are added on top, more likely with government jobs.